She is a former president of the Synaspismos party of the left and former state member of the Hellenic Parliament within the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK).

[1] Damanaki was born in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, in 1952, and studied chemical engineering in the National Technical University of Athens.

Damanaki was the voice of the famous "Εδώ Πολυτεχνείο" ("This is the Polytechnic") radio broadcast from within the uprising, calling Greek citizens out to support; she was arrested and tortured by the regime.

In just the next five years, the continuation of her fisheries policy efforts[2] could lead to 15 million more tons of fish in the sea, 30 percent more jobs in Europe and the equivalent of over US$2 billion in additional revenue.

In addition, she established legislation to create a common framework for Marine Spatial Planning to map and better manage maritime activities across EU countries.